The start-up vilisto has increased its turnover by 200 per cent from 2022 to 2023 and is planning an eight-figure turnover for 2024. The company, which emerged from Hamburg University of Technology, develops AI-supported energy-saving solutions for non-residential buildings and has already saved over 10,000 tonnes of CO2. Managing Director Christoph Berger is calling for simpler and faster climate protection measures to drive forward the energy transition. With innovative thermostats and an online platform, vilisto helps public clients and companies to use their heating energy more efficiently and reduce CO2 emissions.
The energy transition is also rapidly gaining momentum beyond solar systems and heat pumps. The climate protection company vilisto, known for its AI-based energy-saving solution for non-residential buildings, is celebrating its eighth anniversary and publishing impressive company figures for the first time. From 2022 to 2023, vilisto increased its turnover by an impressive 200 per cent and also grew its workforce by 100 per cent. In 2023, the Hamburg-based company achieved a turnover of six million euros and is targeting a turnover in the double-digit million range for 2024.
Since its foundation in 2016, vilisto’s digital heat management has saved around 10,000 tonnes of CO2 for over 300 public clients and companies. vilisto currently employs 93 dedicated employees, and the team is set to grow to over 100 by the middle of the year. These impressive figures emphasise vilisto’s important role in the energy transition and climate protection.
Climate targets at risk: non-binding policies and budget cuts are putting the brakes on climate protection
Despite the positive business development, vilisto Managing Director Christoph Berger believes that the achievement of climate targets is at risk. Although the willingness of municipalities and companies to invest in climate protection measures is increasing, the non-binding nature of politics and reduced budgets are leading to uncertainty and reluctance to implement them. ‘It takes far too long for political climate protection decisions to become clear recommendations for action and requirements for non-residential building operators. Climate protection must become simpler and faster: swift implementation of the recently adopted EU Buildings Directive into German law, more budget for the resulting measures and less bureaucracy, for example in public tenders and funding applications. The motivation to protect the climate that exists in many places must not be thwarted by politics,’ says Berger.
It was only on 15 April 2024 that the traffic light parliamentary group agreed on a reformed, cross-sector climate protection law, which has been strongly criticised by the environmental association BUND, among others, because it removes responsibility from the individual sectors to achieve their respective climate targets.
High CO2 emissions from space heating: untapped efficiency potential in non-residential buildings
The building sector is responsible for 40 per cent of CO2 emissions in Germany and misses the interim emission targets set out in the Climate Protection Act every year. According to the German Energy Agency, the main cause is space heating. In the private sector, tado°, 1Komma5Grad, Enpal & Co. are already saving a lot of CO2. However, there is still a lot of untapped savings potential in the non-residential building sector, says efficiency expert Berger. Although non-residential buildings only make up a tenth of the building stock, they are responsible for a third of total energy consumption in the building sector (see dena building report).
‘Increasing energy efficiency – or in other words, avoiding energy waste – is an essential step in the energy transition that needs more attention,’ continues Berger. ‘We are therefore developing our heat management solutions in such a way that they not only make ecological sense, but are also economically attractive as a business case.’
Boom in green innovations
vilisto, the German market leader for intelligent individual room control according to the company, reduces heating energy consumption and the associated CO2 emissions in public buildings, offices and educational institutions by up to 32 per cent. Self-learning thermostats only heat rooms as required and automatically turn down the heat when no one is present.
However, the intelligent radiator thermostats, which are subsidised by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, are only one part of the heat management solution. In addition to efficient remote energy management, room climate monitoring can also be carried out via a connected online platform. The Hamburg-based company is also currently working on new functions and additional services to help local authorities, companies and property managers save even more energy and comply with laws such as the Energy Efficiency Act and the EU Buildings Directive.
vilisto was founded in 2016, has won numerous awards such as the European EIT Award and the German Innovation Award for Climate and Environment and is backed by investors such as SET Ventures and E.R. Capital Holding. In February 2024, ex-tado CEO Toon Bouten also took over as Chairman of the Advisory Board of the green prop-tech.
About vilisto:
Christoph Berger’s business idea came about while he was studying energy technology at the TU Hamburg: in his master’s thesis, he focussed on predicting room temperatures in unknown rooms and buildings. He worked with algorithms that take into account the outside temperature and solar radiation. In 2014, he saw a sign on campus: ‘Want to start a business? Come by!’ advertising the newly established Startup Dock at TU Hamburg, which is now called Startup Port @TUHH. For Christoph, the simple sign was a sign at the right time: a product idea emerged from the concept of his scientific work, which was put through its paces by the advisors in terms of its business idea. Together with Christian Brase and Lasse Stehnken, Christoph then founded the start-up vilisto, a Hamburg-based climate protection company that uses digital heat management to reduce energy consumption in non-residential buildings. At the heart of the energy-saving solution are intelligent thermostats that use patented, integrated sensors and self-learning algorithms to recognise room usage and automatically optimise the temperature. This not only saves energy, but also CO2 emissions. vilisto was founded in 2016 by Christoph Berger, Christian Brase and Lasse Stehnken and currently employs around 90 people. More than 300 customers are already part of the climate mission – including companies such as Volkswagen Immobilien and public clients such as the City of Hamburg.
